Sensors Register Energy Conservation on Campus

by Jonathan McGaha | September 30, 2015 12:00 am

Building automation, outdoor spaces, material specifications, other factors contribute to building certification

Photo: Gilbertson Photography

 

The San Diego Community College District North City Campus academic building monitors its activity and the environment to minimize energy consumption, maintain comfortable air temperatures and optimize lighting conditions. The building automation features are part of a broader initiative by the community college district to obtain a minimum LEED Silver certification for all construction funded by its bond programs. The notion of high-tech extends across the facility’s use, energy conservation strategies and aesthetics.

 

Sensing Conservation

Sensors connected to a weather station on the roof illuminate green lights in the interior when conditions are conducive to open the windows. Banks of operable windows in the classrooms have sensors that switch the heating, cooling and ventilation system to natural ventilation mode when they are opened. Additional sensors adjust artificial lighting relative to the amount of daylight.

 

Going for Gold

Matthew Geaman, AIA, LEED AP, associate principal at San Diego-based Joseph Wong Design Associates, says his firm suggested designing the project to exceed the college’s LEED Silver goal to reflect the building’s use: computer technology training.

Zinc and other materials’ recycled content, low-flow plumbing fixtures, water efficient landscaping and an underground drywell for treating storm water on-site contributed to the project’s LEED Gold certification. “[San Diego Community College District] inherently built in a level of sustainability there,”

Geaman says. “We took that as a starting point. The mechanical systems are highly efficient and then we’ve incorporated those additional elements to even further increase the efficiency, so that when they don’t need to be running, they’re not.”

The 42,500-square-foot academic building and a 300-space parking garage are located on a 3-acre site and the project was completed in July 2013. Exterior balconies, exterior corridors and courtyards reduce energy consumption and were intended to promote interaction among faculty, staff, students and visitors. “A lot of circulation on the project is exterior,” Geaman says. “And so it’s taking advantage

of our climate here and using outdoor spaces that don’t need to be cooled or heated to reduce the amount of energy we’re using that way. It’s all contributing to the whole.”

 

Reducing Heat

Photo: Brady Architectural Photography

 

Building materials included multicolored fiber-reinforced cementitious panels, standing seam zinc siding, stucco and expansive windows. Raleigh, N.C.-based Umicore Building Products USA Inc. supplied approximately 20,000 square feet of 0.8-mm VMZinc standing seam panels in QUARTZ-ZINC and ANTHRA-ZINC and Vernon, Calif.-based Arcadia Inc. supplied its T500 Series curtainwall, TC470 Series storefront and T200 Series operable windows, all with low-E glazing, for the project.

The large windows provided daylight and caused heat gain from the sun to become a design consideration. “Some of the large overhangs that are formed by the standing seam zinc panels actually help block the sun’s direct rays from entering into the glass at certain times of the day,” Geaman says.

Some of the largest classrooms are oriented at the north side of the building so they’re not in direct sunlight. “They’re getting the nice northern indirect light that is really great for lighting a classroom, especially classrooms that are filled with computers like these are,” Geaman says.

Additionally, a 1,000-square-foot green roof was installed at the northeast corner of the building. About 6 inches of soil and Sedum plants in trays absorb heat from the sun. It is located in a section where the building is one story, adjacent to the student lounge on the second floor and visible through large windows.

“This was one of the first green roofs that this school district had installed, so it’s in some ways sort of a test case, and for our project it was located at an area of the building where it’s visible from inside the building,” Geaman says. “It’s the kind of thing you can’t see from the ground, from being outside the building you would never know it’s there. But once you’re up in
[the building], you walk out, you’d expect to see a roof and you see green planted material. It’s an opportunity to show people about other technology that’s coming into the marketplace.”

 

Designing High-Tech Aesthetics

Photo: Brady Architectural Photography

Geaman says the cementitious panels on the first floor and standing seam zinc projections, primarily on the second floor, were selected to relate to each other. “It’s the contrast of those two things that got us really excited about the design of the overall project,” he says. “The technology factor sort of pushed us to the higher sustainability goals, but then with that in mind, and as we were infusing all these technology-rich classrooms into the space, that kind of high-tech feeling and aesthetic for the building was something we were interested in.”

Chicago-based USG Corp. supplied Panz metal ceiling panels for the interior. “The perforated metal panel ceiling was specified for its clean lines and aesthetic,” Geaman says. “We thought it related nicely to what we were trying to achieve with the metal panels on the exterior of the building.”

Natural Healing

Geaman says zinc’s matte finish, ability to patina and minimal maintenance requirement made it well-suited for the project. “We go back to the building a lot, it’s one of those things that almost seems like it’s getting better the longer it’s out there,” he says. “It’s developing this patina, even scratches that form start to heal as the zinc continues its course of patina over time.”

Geaman says zinc’s matte finish wasn’t attainable with painted metal panels, which can look vibrant when they are first installed, but can get dusty and fade after time passes. “Whereas the zinc is a different kind of thing,” Geaman says. “It started out as kind of a grayish, black material and it’s become deeper and the variation in tone has sort of all come together as it sits out there. So over years, it’s like a great, old copper roof that develops its green patina over time.”

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San Diego Community College District North City Campus academic building, San Diego
Architect: Joseph Wong Design Associates, San Diego[1]
General contractor: Balfour Beatty Construction, San Diego[2]
Installer: Western Bay Sheet Metal Inc., San Diego[3]
Curtainwall/storefront/windows: Arcadia Inc., Vernon, Calif., www.arcadiainc.com[4]
Metal ceiling system: USG Corp., Chicago, www.usg.com[5]
Metal wall panels: Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., www.vmzinc-us.com[6]

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/sensors-register-energy-conservation-on-campus/

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